Lufthansa Highlights Sylt

Pleasure island

Sylt, the isle of plenty for German bon viveurs, is popular among many for its air, which is a unique blend of iodine, salt and vast, open space. Others come to recharge their batteries on pristine beaches that seem to go on forever. Yet others have acquired a taste for Sylt because of its gourmet restaurants. Hardly anywhere else in Germany has so many Michelin stars within such a small area.

A moment ago the day was bright and calm with a gentle breeze rippling the surface of the North Sea. Suddenly the wind stiffens, roaring from the southeast across the land and out to sea in gusts that flatten the trembling pale green grass against the dunes. Within a matter of minutes, gray clouds loom over Listland, darkening the lonely heath landscape. Better find shelter from the rain fast, I think to myself.

Abrupt weather changes like this don't worry people like Randolph Kohns.

The tall IT expert from Hanover pushes back his baseball cap, surveys the sky and pronounces confidently: "It will soon pass."He knows what he's talking about, and so he should because Randolph Kohns has been coming to the island of Sylt for over 20 years. A quarter of an hour later, the clouds have disappeared, the sky is clear and blue as if washed clean. This North Frisian island has its own special microclimate, and it's a benevolent one.

Compared with the German mainland, Sylt has less cloud cover, more sunshine and fewer rainy days. I meet Kohns again in the evening, sitting with his wife in Johannes King's Söl'ring Hof in Rantum, one of the two two-star restaurants on Sylt. He likes to indulge in at least one "starry" meal during each visit to the island, as he says. Sometimes he goes to King's, where the master chef presides over an open, country kitchen, greets his guests personally and bids them farewell when they leave.